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From today through Oct. 17, Philly.com and The Inquirer will mark breast cancer awareness month by publishing a profile a day of transformative moments reported by patients. The series culminates in a special Philly.com/health Inquirer section on Oct. 18, and can be viewed at www.philly.com/breastcancer . "My little Sister, Debbi, was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer when she was 29 years old and pregnant," said Traci Walters of Texas. "They induced labor about a month early because the tumor was growing so fast because she was pregnant.

THE RYDER Cup. There's really nothing quite like it. Forget its distant cousin, the President's Cup. That's more like golf's version of a soccer friendly. It's still a competition, but much less contentious. Over the years, the Europeans and Americans usually have left the impression that they really want to beat the snot out of each other. At least for this one weekend every 2 years. Guys who've won majors contend the Ryder Cup is more pressurized. Because you're not playing for yourself.

By Patricia A. Coulter As the voter-ID law makes its way through the court system and dominates the headlines, I wonder how many eligible voters do have the proper identification but are not registered to vote. Then I think about all of the registered voters with the required identification who do not bother to go to the polls. Who is electing our government? We have a presidential election coming in November, so interest in voting in running high. But, as National Urban League president Marc Morial reminds us in this year's "State of Black America" report, we need to occupy the vote.

THE ONLY solace in all these losses for the Los Angeles Dodgers is that they aren't losing any ground in the NL wild-card race. Los Angeles remained a game behind St. Louis, with the teams beginning a four-game series Thursday night at Dodger Stadium. Going into that pivotal matchup, the Dodgers had lost six of seven and the Cardinals 11 of their last 15. "I'm sure people are getting tired of hearing me say it, but we have to turn the page," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.

Tuesday is the 11th anniversary of 9/11. And three months later, we will mark the 71st anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The two worst attacks on American soil each resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths and led the nation to war. Still, given the passage of time, Dec. 7 will be noted with minimal, if any, reverence by most Americans, and, despite little more than a decade having lapsed since 9/11, already some memories are fading too fast....

Some days in your life, you remember the details, the expressions on faces of those around you. For Temple placekicker Brandon McManus, the 2010 season opener against Villanova at Lincoln Financial Field is one of those. At that point, the game was on his foot. The year before, Villanova had won on a field goal in the final seconds. This time, it was McManus on the line. The snap was a little high, the hold was perfect. "Hit it great," McManus said of his 43-yard game-winner with three seconds left.

DEAR HARRY: Our sister was extremely ill for the last seven years. During that time we tried very hard to have her make a will, but she would respond, "Are you trying to put me in my grave?" She did absolutely nothing. She would not even tell us where things were or whom she dealt with at her bank. Well, she died a few weeks ago, and we're going crazy looking for things. We just discovered that she took out a $50,000 loan four years ago. We have zero idea of where that money went or if some of it is still invested or available.

DETROIT - Just when Detroit seemed to be luring them away, Americans are embracing Japanese cars again. Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. lost ground last year after the Japanese earthquake limited their supplies. But July's U.S. sales show they've nearly regained what they lost, at the expense of General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. GM sales fell 6 percent and Ford sales were down 4 percent compared with last July. Honda's sales were up 45 percent and Toyota jumped 26 percent.

IT'S BEEN almost a week since Jerry Sandusky was found guilty of 45 counts of sexual abuse. And a great big "what if?" won't stop looping through my brain. Not the Mike McQueary "what if?" as in, "What if that assistant football coach had slammed Sandusky into the wall the night Sandusky molested that child in the shower?" And not the Penn State "what if?" as in, "What if school leaders had given more thought to the state pen than to Penn State when they heard murmurings of Sandusky's weirdness with kids?"

The Eagles hope to benefit from the more obvious aspect of spring practice and classroom time. Players get a head start on learning the offensive and defensive playbooks. The less-obvious aspect may be even more important. That became clear last year. The Eagles, like all other NFL teams, were denied the May and June camps, then were forced to open training camp with some veteran players standing around waiting for the new collective bargaining agreement to be finalized. Obviously, the players had less time to learn from the coaches.